Mumbai, February 18 – The Election Commission of India announced on Wednesday the schedule for the biennial elections to 37 vacant Rajya Sabha seats, including seven from Maharashtra. The ruling coalition, Mahayuti, is expected to secure six seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi is expected to obtain one seat, reflecting their respective strengths in the state Assembly.
The polling is scheduled for March 16, and the deadline for filing nominations is from February 26 to March 5.
The seven Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra whose terms are expiring on April 2 are Sharad Pawar, Fauzia Khan (NCP-SP), Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Dhairyasheel Patil (BJP), Ramdas Athawale (RPI chief), Priyanka Vikram Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena UBT) and Rajani Patil (Congress).
Since the election is for seven seats, 37 first preference votes will be required to win. Depending on the strength of the Assembly, four candidates from the BJP, one each from Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) and one candidate from the opposition can be elected. Considering the party-wise strength, this election is likely to be unopposed.
Although the BJP has 132 MLAs, four BJP candidates can be elected with the support of Independents and small parties. The Shiv Sena has 20 extra votes; it is difficult for the BJP to leave another seat for the Shinde's party. So, Shiv Sena can comfortably win one seat. The Ajit Pawar faction has enough votes to win one seat.
In the Mahavikas Aghadi, Shiv Sena(UBT) has 20 votes, Congress has 16, and the NCP Sharad Pawar group has 10 votes in total. Even if Shiv Sena(UBT) and Congress remain together, one seat can be won.
A lot of calculations depend on what role NCP-SP supremo Sharad Pawar takes. There is talk of merging both the NCPs. However, the merger is not imminent. There is also curiosity about whether the Ajit Pawar group will leave this seat for Sharad Pawar. Is Sharad Pawar really keen on getting re-elected to the Rajya Sabha? This is the question being discussed in state politics.
Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has already proposed that Sharad Pawar should get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. If Sharad Pawar is the candidate, Congress can also support him. This will not pose any problem for Sharad Pawar getting elected.
Ramdas Athawale, leader of the Republican Party, has been elected in the past with the help of Congress, NCP or BJP. He has never achieved success on his own. The BJP gave Athawale a chance last time. He was also given the post of Minister of State at the Centre. There will be no elections in the state for at least three years now. That is why it is curious whether the BJP will give yet another chance to Athawale or nominate someone else.